High rates of chronic wasting disease in and around the Ruby Valley have prompted officials to ramp up the killing of white-tailed deer in nine hunting districts across southwest Montana.
Brian Wakeling, game management bureau chief for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said at a virtual Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting Thursday that the prevalence of CWD in whitetails this year exceeded 40% in some areas around the Ruby Valley. The disease was first detected in the valley in 2019.